UBC Race Report

The UBC tri came and went in a hurry this year. Considering I could only sign up for the short distance (yes shorter than a sprint), I had no plans for a taper. My distances were 400m, 12km,5km for the swim bike run. I basically was going to this race so that I could see how my running is coming along. A 400m swim doesn't even allow you to warm up, and the same for the bike, but a 5km run is sufficient to see how the legs respond coming out of T2.

I headed over the day before and stayed with a friend, sleeping on the couch. I had a very good sleep, so I was looking forward to the race the next morning. I definately miss racing! Running races are fun, but there is something extra special about a triathlon race! I got there nice and early just to soak it in.

I was a little late coming out of my warmup, so I basically walked right into the pool to start my swim. I was second to start, and I was excited to pump a good 400m warmup swim! The swim felt really good, other than the lane lines were impossible to go under (anyone in the outdoor pool knows what I am talking about). I finished the swim in about 5:30, but with the long transition run it came out something like 7:30.

Since my race was amazingly short, there was only time to put on a windbreaker for the bike. I could suffer through anything for 12km. The bike, true to form, was frieking freezing. Going down Marine Drive around 45km when it is 1 degree outside is not a good idea. My feet were completely frozen. On the way back, my legs started to seize a bit. There was nothing I could do. It's early in the season, and it was too cold to properly get in a groove. If I had done a longer distance, I'm sure I could have worked it out, but you just gotta go all out on a 12km bike (I feel silly even writing 12km bike!).

Then the main event started. Coming in off the bike, I was determined to lay down a solid run. My feet were numb, but after about 1km they were feeling slightly better. Right from the start I assaulted the run. My cadence was high, and my form felt great. First km went by in about 3:58, but it was all uphill and I wasn't too worried about it. Km 2 went by in about 3:29, and at the turn around I was still feeling awsome. The lungs were open and I was ripping along! The next two kms went by in 3:32, and 3:31. Coming into the final km, I was prepared for an all out assault on the finish line. Then, about 400m into it, I spotted the finish line and was thinking "uh oh, there is no way I could be that close!" The last km was ridiculousely short! I ran it in like 2:30, although I know I was going at about a 3:30 pace. The shortness pisses me off, since I had a great run, but finished with a 17:05 5km. That is clearly not my 5km race time! I'm upset because I know I would have had a PB, but I'm not about to start telling my running buddies that I ran a 17min 5km, because its not possible. I estimate that the course was about 300m short, and that I still would have ran it in well under 18min, which is great!

Overall the race went well. I came second overall in that distance, and won my age group. Can't get too excited, since most of my competition was in the other distances, but I'm still pleased. Well worth the ferry ride over, to see where I am at in my training and what I have to work on (BIKE!).

Post race I hopped on the trainer and rode for about an hour and half. More training news to come, including my new HOT YOGA experience!